March 30, 2003 Utrecht 58, ProBuild 51
The ProBuild Lions had a four game winning streak snapped by a 58-51 loss in Utrecht. Amy Houchens was the only player in double digits and scored 15 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter. Lani Lawrence did a good defensive job on Utrecht's leading scorer Jay Garner, but scored her first and only two points in the last minute of the game. Zuzana Sakova, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, also had a not-so-good game with seven points. ProBuild took a quick 0-7 lead, but Jay Garner and Sandra Horck brought Utrecht back to 7-8. Jasmijn Overbeeke scored four points to pull the Lions to 8-13 at the end of the quarter. In the second period ProBuild did not score until the 9th minute, when Alice Felter had a driving lay-up and Jolanda Jansen buried a trey in the buzzer. Utrecht wasn't very productive either and the game was tied at halftime, 18-18. In the third quarter ProBuild and Utrecht changed baskets, until Renske Peters hit a 3-pointer to spark a 13-0 Utrecht run, 43-29 at the end of the period. In the fourth quarter Amy Houchens put up an impressive show, scoring 15 points to close the gap to five points, 54-49. But Houchens did not get much help from her teammates and ProBuild's surge turned out to be too little and too late.
March 29, 2003 Utrecht
The ProBuild Lions hope to extend their winning streak to five games when they visit seventh-seeded BC Utrecht on Sunday. Both teams are sure of their places in the play-offs, so there's not much at stake. ProBuild will face fourth-seeded Lely in the first round, and Utrecht almost surely will play against second-seeded Perik Jumpers. In the regular competition ProBuild won both games against Utrecht, 72-52 in Landsmeer and 63-70 (OT) in Utrecht.
March 26, 2003 Lions 84, BC Shooters 57
The ProBuild Lions recorded their fourth consecutive win in the Elite B poule as they cruised to a 84-57 rout of the woeful Bunschoten Shooters, the last seeded team in the league. Lani Lawrence scored 21 points and Amy Houchens added 20. The Lions trailed after two minutes, 0-5. In the fifth minute Jolanda Jansen tied the game, 11-11, but former Lions player Gerda Heinen took the Shooters to a 16-24 lead at the end of the quarter. In the second period Amy Houchens scored five straight points to close the gap to 21-25 and Lani Lawrence had a score and a bonus to take the lead back again for the Lions, 26-25. Leontine Doorn, Belinda Bos and Alice Felter changed threepointers and Jolanda Jansen scored 34-28. In the last minute before the break Amy Houchens grabbed a rebound and scored, 36-32, and next set Leontine Doorn up for an easy lay-up. Somehow the ball rolled of the rim and Judith Pruijs was able to score for the Shooters on the other side, 36-34. In the third quarter the Lions took the lead for good. Amy Houchens scored 50-45 in the 9th minute and ProBuild had a 13-0 run to 62-47 in the second minute of the fourth period. After Houchens sank two threepointers and Zuzana Sakova added another one in the fifth minute to score 73-53, the Lions easily rolled to a 84-57 victory.
March 23, 2003 Lions 85, Leiderdorp 50
In their most lopsided victory of the season the ProBuild Lions routed shorthanded Leiderdorp, 85-50. Amy Houchens led the Lions in scoring with 19 points and Lani Lawrence had 18. Jolanda Jansen contributed 18 points, Jasmijn Overbeeke 14 and Zuzana Sakova 10. As starting pointguard Burgundie Porter returned to the USA earlier this week because of the war in Iraq and shooting guard Renske van der Voort was sidelined due to an injury, Leiderdorp's backcourt was not as good as it used to be. To get their points Leiderdorp had to rely on its frontcourt, especially Lonneke Bransz, the talented 6.5 center of the Dutch national team. She scored 22 points, well defended by Lani Lawrence under the boards. Leiderdorp took the first lead, 0-3, which proved to be their last as Jolanda Jansen sparked a 8-0 Lions' run, 8-3. In the remaining minutes of the period centers Lani Lawrence and Lonneke Branzs changed baskets, 20-15.
In the second quarter coach Tony Vujanic called a press-defence, which caused the Leiderdorp backcourt big problems. Amy Houchens was everywhere, stealing the ball, running the fast break and scoring lay-ups. Going into the break, the Lions had a 48-27 lead. In the third period Houchens continued her outstanding performance, scoring 9 points and taking the Lions to a 30-point lead at the end of the quarter, 69-39. In the last quarter veteran pointguard Alice Felter ran the offence, while Jasmijn Overbeeke and Lani Lawrence took most of the scoring load.
March 19, 2003 Groningen 60, Lions 71
Zuzana Sakova scored a season-high 22 points and Amy Houchens added 19 as the ProBuild Lions had four players in double figures in a 61-70 victory over MPC Celeritudo. Jolanda Jansen chipped in with 14 points and Lani Lawrence had 11 and 13 rebounds. The Lions beat MPC for the third straight time this season. "I liked our game tonight", coach Tony Vujanic said. "We were hungry and executed well. The ball was moving all over the place." The Lions quickly took a 3-13 lead, but MPC closed to 12-18 entering the second period. After a few minutes in the quarter MPC managed almost to tie the game, 18-19. The game stayed close until the break, 35-37. In the third and fourth period the lead changed several times, until the third minute of the last quarter, as Groningen placed a 6-0 run to take a 58-57 lead. Then the Lions went to work and outscored MPC 2-14, to take the game.
March 17, 2003 Groningen
The ProBuild Lions will go for a season sweep of MPC Celeritudo as they visit Groningen on Wednesday night. Groningen is situated in the northern part of the Netherlands, a two-and-a-half-hour bus trip from Landsmeer. The Lions won the first meeting in Groningen, 51-61, and posted a 69-64 victory in Landsmeer. Wednesday's game is important for the standings. Groningen and ProBuild both won 12 games until now, but Groningen played one game less. If the Lions lose, they'll have to give up the fifth seed. Coach Vujanic will be limited to a six or seven women rotation. Miriam Benjamins, Linda Buitenweg and Jeanine Tjin-A-Sioe are injured. It's not sure yet if Jasmijn Overbeeke will be available. Game starts at 8.45 pm CET.
March 16, 2003 Grasshoppers 58, Lions 72
Lani Lawrence collected 19 points and 13 rebounds as four Lions scored in double figures in a 58-72 road victory over the Katwijk Grasshoppers. Jolanda Jansen scored 15 points, Zuzana Sakova added 14 and Alice Felter 11. Coach Tony Vujanic started Natalie Hudec at pointguard, sidelining Amy Houchens, as regulations prevent to have more than two non-European players on the floor. Hudec did a good job, scoring six points and pulling down seven rebounds.
As usual the Lions started slow, trailing 10-4 after the first five minutes and 20-15 by the end of the first period. In the second quarter ProBuild pulled over to a 33-37 lead, when Alice Felter entered the game hitting a threepointer and another jumper. The Grasshoppers answered with a trey, almost tying the game before going into the break, 36-37.
In the third period the Lions tightened their defence to build a nine-point lead, 38-47. Jolanda Jansen, using her ability to get out on the fast break, scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, to take the Lions to a 51-68 lead with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
March 13, 2003 Round 2: The "B"-pool
The Dutch league is entering a new stage, which is kind of difficult to explain. Let's try. The regular competition has ended, and now the league will be split up into an "A"- and a "B"-Poole. The top four teams team in the standings of the regular competition qualified for the "A"-pool. In the next round these teams, whose play-off spots are already guaranteed, will meet each other twice. The seven teams seeded 5th or worse will meet once in the "B"-pool, battling for the four remaining play-off spots, or, on the other hand, to avoid relegation. So eight teams will be in the play-offs, starting in the second week of April. The ProBuild Lions ended in 5th place as "the best of the rest" and a play-off spot is well within reach. If the Lions can hold the 5th spot, their first play-off game will be against the 4th seeded team. Saturday the Lions will play 10th seeded Katwijk Grasshoppers in their first "B"-pool game. Game starts at 7:30 pm CET.
March 8, 2003 ProBuild wins close game in Lieshout
Jolanda Jansen scored 15 points and Lani Lawrence added 14 as the ProBuild Lions had a late 52-59 victory against 3Es Lieshout. Lawrence also had four blocked shots. Zuzanna Sakova contributed 11 points and Amy Houchens chipped in with 9 points. Houchens struggled most of the game, but again played a big role in the last period as she sparked an 8-0 run with a fieldscore and four free throws. The Lions started sloppy and trailed 10-0 within three minutes. After a time-out by coach Tony Vujanic ProBuild was able to come back slowly. Jolanda Jansen scored six points and Zuzana Sakova added four, to close the gap to two points at the end of the quarter, 16-14. In the second period the lead changed a few times, and the teams went into the break 33-30. In the third quarter Lieshout placed a 8-0 run, to rally to a 42-30 lead. ProBuild answered by outscoring Lieshout 0-12 and took a 42-43 lead at the end of the quarter. In the fourth period the game stayed close, until Amy Houchens scored 49-52, Zuzana Sakova nailed down a running jumper and Houchens went to the free throw line three times to score four more unanswered points.
March 7, 2003
3Es Lieshout
Saturday the ProBuild Lions will travel to the town of Lieshout in the southern region of the Netherlands and try to end the first part of the season with a win against 3Es Lieshout. Lieshout is 6-19 now and hopes to snap a five-game losing streak. In their first meeting Lieshout routed ProBuild 57-76 on their own home court. Not a pretty sight, and it was the beginning of the end of coach Carlo Rizzone's short career with the Lions. Americans Amy Bareo and Kelly Barker both scored 16 points for Lieshout and three other players ended in double figures. Zuzana Sakova led the Lions with 20 points but all other ProBuild players were stuck in single digits. Hopefully Saturday coach Tony Vujanic and his team will make us forget about that. Game starts at 8 pm CET.
March 3, 2003 ProBuild Lions pulls out close win against Grasshoppers, 63-58
Amy Houchens and Lani Lawrence scored 18 points apiece and Zuzana Sakova added 11 points, as the ProBuild Lions had a 63-58 victory over the Katwijk Grasshoppers. Houchens had an impressive fourth quarter in her home debut, nailing a big threepointer to take the Lions to a 54-51 lead, and scoring eight points in the final period. Lani Lawrence controlled the boards on both ends of the court, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Zuzana Sakova also was in foul trouble early in the game, and sat out the third quarter, to receive her fifth foul in the third minute of the fourth period. It was a close game, in which the Lions several times built a lead, but could not pull away. Jasmijn Overbeeke scored 31-31 in the buzzer before going into the break. The second half the lead kept switching, before Amy Houchens knocked down a threepointer and Leontine Doorn followed up with another trey to take the Lions to a 59-53 lead. Another score by Houchens and a free throw by Nadine Boesaart widened the gap to nine points. Two free throws and a threepointer by the Grasshopper's Talia Versteeg closed the margin to four points again, but then Amy Houchens was fouled and made one free throw, which was enough to win the victory.
March 2, 2003 Monday's game
ProBuild Lions will have to rebound from the loss against Noordkop, as they play the Katwijk Grasshoppers in the Indoor Centrum Landsmeer on Monday. The 5-17 Grasshoppers are in 10th place and will try to avoid a three-game losing streak. The teams last met on December 7th in Katwijk, when the Lions lost by 65-51 and finished of the first part of the season on a low point. Zuzana Sakova sprained her ankle in the second period and the Lions trailed fifteen points by halftime. In the fourth quarter they closed the gap to two points, but then three players fouled out and the Grasshoppers could rally to an easy win. The Grasshoppers are a great threepoint-shooting team but lack presence under the boards. Key to a Lions-victory will be a tight defence on the perimeter and using their height advantage in offence against the smaller Katwijk frontcourt. Game starts at 9 pm, CET.
February 27, 2003 Noordkop 62, Lions 60.
The Lions got their first lead with 4 minutes on the clock in the fourth quarter after trailing by fourteen points in the third, but failed to keep the momentum and lost the game by two. Amy Houchens had a solid debut with 16 points. Due to the absence of backup pointguard Alice Felter, Houchens had to play forty minutes, as did Zuzana Sakova and Lani Lawrence. Natalie Hudec was sidelined, as regulations prevented ProBuild to have more than two non-European players on the floor.
Lani Lawrence, warming up slowly as usual, scored her first points in the third quarter and ended up with fourteen. Jasmijn Overbeeke chipped in with ten points and Zuzana Sakova and Jolanda Jansen both contributed eight. The Lions trailed as much as 21-7 in the first quarter. "We were not sharp in the first part of the game", coach Tony Vujanic said. "Our defensive effort was poor and we did not handle their press well. We lost the ball as many as twenty times the first half." Luckily Amy Houchens showed some of her skills at the end of the quarter when she scored two consecutive threepointers and a jumper to close the gap to 23-17. The second quarter the Lions stayed behind by eight, ten points until Noordkop's Leonie Kooij buried a trey to take her team to a 36-22 lead. By halftime ProBuild was behind 39-27.
With 1.57 on the clock in the fourth period Lani Lawrence rebounded a missed threepointer by Jolanda Jansen en scored two points to tie the game, 60-60. Next possession Amy Houchens decided to take a quick jumper, but missed. Then Melanie Turner scored for Noordkop, 62-60. Time-out ProBuild. Next Amy Houchens was called for travelling. Noordkop took the ball out and missed, Jasmijn Overbeeke rebounded but passed the ball to hit Lani Lawrence's back, Noordkop-player Naomi Halman steals the ball, was fouled by Overbeeke but missed her two shots. With two seconds on the clock the Lions were not able to produce another shot. End of game.
February 26, 2003 Den Helder
This is the second regular season meeting between the Lions and
Noordkop. In their first meeting on December 14 at home the Lions lost by
one, 68-67. It's an important game for Probuild in their race for a place
in the top four. Probuild's newly acquired guard Amy Houchens is required
to be on the court, in order to be allowed to play the rest of the season
because of the trading deadline. Therefore Natalie Hudec, still waiting
for her Slowakian passport, will be sidelined, as regulations prevent
ProBuild from having more than two non-european players on the floor.
Third seeded Noordkop, (17 played 11 wins), not in their best form, lost
their last away game in Groningen last week. Coach Meindert van Veen:
"What irritated me most was the lack of fighting spirit". Van Veen, who is
also the coach of the Dutch national team, is known for his ability to
have his teams come out agressive and ready to play.
February 23, 2003 Lions 86, Shooters 47
Zuzana Sakova scored 20 points, Jolanda Jansen added 15 and Jasmijn Overbeeke chipped in with 14 as the ProBuild Lions routed the Bunschoten Shooters, 86-47. The woeful Shooters who were not able to bring more than six players on the floor due to injuries and vacations (!), stayed scoreless until the 9th minute of the first period, 10-2. Pointguard-veteran Alice Felter made her re-entrance and scored eight points. New addition Amy Houchens did not play yet due to jetlag. Her first appearance is scheduled for Thursday 27, as the Lions play Noordkop Den Helder. Natalie Hudec and Lani Lawrence both scored six points and had quiet games. Coach Vujanic took the opportunity to give his bench lots of playing time.
February 22, 2003 Bunschoten
The Lions hope to gain two points to stay in fifth place as the last-seeded Bunschoten Shooters visit Landsmeer. UCR's Big West All Star Amy Houchens is set to make her debut and veteran pointguard Alice Felter came out of retirement to return on the court Saturday. The 3-16 Shooters entered the highest league this year and thrive solely on local talents. One of these talents is Gerda Heinen, who played for ProBuild last two seasons, but returned to her hometown this summer. The Lions won the first game against the Shooters, 51-67. Lani Lawrence was unstoppable in Bunschoten with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
February 19, 2003 Transactions
The ProBuild Lions management has decided to waive forward Galja Panteleeva at the end of the try-out period. The Bulgarian international, who played only five minutes in the game against Lely last Wednesday, hasn't lived up to expectations of the management and coach Tony Vujanic. Instead ProBuild probably will sign American guard Amy Houchens from the University of California, Riverside. Houchens averaged 15 ppg in her senior year and has been named the University of California, Riverside Female Athlete of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2001-2002. Houchens, who hails from Yucaipa, was honored as Academic All-Conference by the Big West.
Amy Houchens is expected to arrive in Landsmeer Friday 21.
Also pointguard Alice Felter (33) is set to come out of retirement and to rejoin her old team for the rest of this season. Felter was ProBuild's starting pointguard last three years and led the Lions to a championship during the 2000-2001 season.
The trading deadline in the Netherlands is February 28th. New players are obliged to have been physically on the court in an officially scheduled game before that date.
February 19, 2003 Lions lost semi finals in OT
Zuzana Sakova scored 18 points and Lani Lawrence added 13 as Lely Amsterdam outlasted the ProBuild Lions in overtime, 61-62. Lely was ahead by 7 points with 6 minutes to play in regulation. But Zuzana Sakova hit a threepointer and Lani Lawrence, who was struggling most of the game, came up with two big scores and a steal to let Natalie Hudec tie the game, 48-48. Jill Campbell and Lani Lawrence, who scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, changed baskets two times, and then Zuzana Sakova scored 54-52. With 16.4 seconds left in regulation Lely's coach Robert Nagel took a time out. Then Sarah Judd hit a short jumper to take the game to overtime. With 22 seconds to play in overtime Lely led 58-60 as Natalie Hudec hit a threepointer, 61-60. The Lions defended well, until Jolanda Jansen fouled Jill Campbell with 2.2 seconds to play. Campbell did not miss from the free throw line and brought her team to the finals of the Dutch Cup Competition.
February 17, 2003 Semi Final Cupgame
The ProBuild Lions hope to advance to the finals of the Dutch Cup Competition on Wednesday when they play against Lely Amsterdam at the Indoor Centrum Landsmeer. The Lions defeated Lely in their last regular competition game, 68-61, on February 1. The first game between the Lions and Lely in the Amsterdam Apollohal was won by Lely, 73-65. Bulgarian forward Galja Panteleeva will make her debut Wednesday.
February 15, 2003 Streak stops
Natalie Hudec played through her shoulder injury and made two quick jumpers in the first minute of the game. ProBuild built a six-point lead, but then Binnenland took over and ended the Lion's four-game winning streak, 65-40. Lani Lawrence and Jolanda Jansen both scored 12 points. After Jolanda Jansen's lay-up in the first minute of the second quarter, 13-12, Binnenland reeled of 12 straight points and took a 25-12 lead. The Lions fell 13 points behind and never recovered. Jolanda Jansen scored 26-17 to pull the Lions within 10 points, but Binnenland answered quickly with two scores before the end of the period, 30-17. Inge Huitzing buried a trey for Binnenland to start the third period, and Binnenland cruised to a comfortable 49-31 lead at the end of the third quarter. Lani Lawrence, Natalie Hudec and Zuzana Sakova sat out the last minutes of the game, to watch the final stage of ProBuild's most lopsided loss of the season.
February 15, 2003 ProBuild signs Galja Panteleeva
The ProBuild Lions have signed Bulgarian powerforward Galja Ivanova Panteleeva (32, 6-2, 78 kg), it was announced today by ProBuilds club president Vincent Post and the team's manager Marcel Louwers. According to her manager Panteleeva is an "excellent team player, who can play with her back to the basket as well facing her opponents." Panteleeva was a Bulgarian national team player. Earlier she played professional basketball in Portugal and Cyprus. With her last team, Alanja Beladie in Turkey, Galja Panteleeva averaged 16 ppg and 12 rebounds. She probably will make her debut in the cup-game against Lely on February 19th.
February 14, 2003 Pointguardless
Bad news for Jeanine Tjin-A-Sioe arrived this week. ProBuild's talented young pointguard will have to undergo knee surgery to have both of her crusiate ligaments replaced. Tjin-A-Sioe will be out for the rest of the season. To make things worse in the backcourt, there's a chance Natalie Hudec will not be able to play Saturday because of a dislocated shoulder. Hudec was injured last week in the game against Leiderdorp. Initially the injury did not appear to be too serious, but after examination later this week a shoulder dislocation was diagnosed. If Hudec is sidelined, shooting guards Leontine Doorn and Jolanda Jansen will be pressed into pointguard duty Saturday, while forward Zuzana Sakova probably will spend some time on the shooting guard-position.
February 13, 2003 Roadtrip to Barendrecht
The red-hot ProBuild Lions try to extend their winning streak to five games on Saturday when they visit top-seeded Dressguard Binnenland in Barendrecht. ProBuild's four-game winning streak is the longest since posting six straight wins in the playoffs of the 2000-2001 season. The Lions have an 8-2 all-time advantage against Binnenland, who made its debut in the 1999-2000-season. This season however Binnenland won 14 out of 16 games but last week suffered a 67-65 loss to the second-seeded Perik Jumpers. The Lions lost their last home game against Binnenland, 58-61. Coach Tony Vujanic, taking a crash course in knowing the exciting world of Dutch women's basketball, visited Dressguard's game against 3Es Lieshout last week. "A good team", he judged. "Their players are experienced and their team is much deeper than ours. But we certainly stand a chance." Game starts at 8.15 pm CET.
February 8, 2003 Leiderdorp 49, Probuild 64
Jolanda Jansen scored a season-high 22 points and Lani Lawrence added 19 as the ProBuild Lions routed Leiderdorp on their own home court. With the Lions trailing 42-36 after three quarters, Jolanda Jansen scored 15 points in the fourth period to lead a 28-7 run. Coach Tony Vujanic, still unbeaten, was a happy man. "There was a lot of bad basketball in the first three quarters", he said. "But at the end of the game, we go home the right way. I give my team all the credit. They overcame a bad shooting-night by going to a tougher mind-set defensively in the last quarter. Offensively things automatically fell into place too."
Leiderdorp took a 14-12 lead in the first quarter and widened the gap to 29-22 at halftime. At the end of the third quarter they took a 42-33 lead, but Nadine Boesaart hit a jumper from behind the arc, 42-36. A driving lay-up and a threepointer by Jolanda Jansen and a score by Lani Lawrence tied the game, 44-44.
Renske van der Voort converted a free throw for Leiderdorp with two minutes to go, 49-53, before the Lions staged a 0-11 run to roll to a 49-64 victory. With four consecutive victories in the last few weeks ProBuild moved into fifth place now. Next week the Lions face top-seeded Binnenland.
February 6, 2003 Leiderdorp
The ProBuild Lions hope to move to the fifth place in the standings as they visit Leiderdorp at the Bloemerdhal in Leiden on Saturday. The Lions improved their play significantly of late, winning three games in a row. ProBuild will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. New coach Tony Vujanic is still unbeaten. The Lions have won their last two meetings with Leiderdorp. Two weeks ago the teams met to play the quarterfinals of the Dutch Cup Competition. Natalie Hudec scored 15 points and Zuzana Sakova and Lani Lawrence both added 13 as the Lions handed Leiderdorp a 66-49 loss.
Game starts at 7.45 pm CET.
February 1, 2003 ProBuild 68, Lely 61
The Lions topped Lely 68-61 as Lani Lawrence and Zuzana Sakova combined for 35 points and Natalie Hudec chipped in with 10 points. Coach Tony Vujanic, who is 3-3 now, was satisfied with the effort of his team. "I thought we executed well", he said. "Lely is a tough team to beat. I am not very experienced with women basketball and I know little of this league. So I did not know what to expect from Lely. I asked the girls earlier this week if we were to expect a press defence and they said no. So their press in the third period came as a surprise and we had to improvise. Although Lely closed the gap to one point, we were able to come back and win the game. It was a big win."
Vujanic' starting five consisted of Natalie Hudec, Jolanda Jansen, Zuzana Sakova, Nadine Boesaart and Lani Lawrence. Zuzana Sakova burried three threepointers in the first quarter to carry the Lions to a 21-11 lead. In the second quarter Lani Lawrence took over, scoring six points en pulling down lots of defensive rebounds. By halftime ProBuild led with 15 points (32-17). In the third period coach Robert Nagel surprised the Lions with a press defence, which proved to be quite successful, as Lely was able to close the gap to one point in the 8th minute (40-39). Jasmijn Overbeeke however scored four consecutive points and Lani Lawrence added two to bring back their team to a 46-39 lead at the end of the third quarter. In the first minute of the fourth period a trey from the corner by Natalie Hudec brought the Lions to a 51-42 lead. That proved to be a big shot. The Lions controlled the game again from this moment on, giving Lely no chance to recover. Both teams spend lots of time on the foul line in the remaining minutes of the quarter.
The ProBuild Lions had a four game winning streak snapped by a 58-51 loss in Utrecht. Amy Houchens was the only player in double digits and scored 15 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter. Lani Lawrence did a good defensive job on Utrecht's leading scorer Jay Garner, but scored her first and only two points in the last minute of the game. Zuzana Sakova, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, also had a not-so-good game with seven points. ProBuild took a quick 0-7 lead, but Jay Garner and Sandra Horck brought Utrecht back to 7-8. Jasmijn Overbeeke scored four points to pull the Lions to 8-13 at the end of the quarter. In the second period ProBuild did not score until the 9th minute, when Alice Felter had a driving lay-up and Jolanda Jansen buried a trey in the buzzer. Utrecht wasn't very productive either and the game was tied at halftime, 18-18. In the third quarter ProBuild and Utrecht changed baskets, until Renske Peters hit a 3-pointer to spark a 13-0 Utrecht run, 43-29 at the end of the period. In the fourth quarter Amy Houchens put up an impressive show, scoring 15 points to close the gap to five points, 54-49. But Houchens did not get much help from her teammates and ProBuild's surge turned out to be too little and too late.
Lions 84, BC Shooters 57
In their most lopsided victory of the season the ProBuild Lions routed shorthanded Leiderdorp, 85-50. Amy Houchens led the Lions in scoring with 19 points and Lani Lawrence had 18. Jolanda Jansen contributed 18 points, Jasmijn Overbeeke 14 and Zuzana Sakova 10. As starting pointguard Burgundie Porter returned to the USA earlier this week because of the war in Iraq and shooting guard Renske van der Voort was sidelined due to an injury, Leiderdorp's backcourt was not as good as it used to be. To get their points Leiderdorp had to rely on its frontcourt, especially Lonneke Bransz, the talented 6.5 center of the Dutch national team. She scored 22 points, well defended by Lani Lawrence under the boards. Leiderdorp took the first lead, 0-3, which proved to be their last as Jolanda Jansen sparked a 8-0 Lions' run, 8-3. In the remaining minutes of the period centers Lani Lawrence and Lonneke Branzs changed baskets, 20-15.
In the second quarter coach Tony Vujanic called a press-defence, which caused the Leiderdorp backcourt big problems. Amy Houchens was everywhere, stealing the ball, running the fast break and scoring lay-ups. Going into the break, the Lions had a 48-27 lead. In the third period Houchens continued her outstanding performance, scoring 9 points and taking the Lions to a 30-point lead at the end of the quarter, 69-39. In the last quarter veteran pointguard Alice Felter ran the offence, while Jasmijn Overbeeke and Lani Lawrence took most of the scoring load.
Jolanda Jansen scored 15 points and Lani Lawrence added 14 as the ProBuild Lions had a late 52-59 victory against 3Es Lieshout. Lawrence also had four blocked shots. Zuzanna Sakova contributed 11 points and Amy Houchens chipped in with 9 points. Houchens struggled most of the game, but again played a big role in the last period as she sparked an 8-0 run with a fieldscore and four free throws. The Lions started sloppy and trailed 10-0 within three minutes. After a time-out by coach Tony Vujanic ProBuild was able to come back slowly. Jolanda Jansen scored six points and Zuzana Sakova added four, to close the gap to two points at the end of the quarter, 16-14. In the second period the lead changed a few times, and the teams went into the break 33-30. In the third quarter Lieshout placed a 8-0 run, to rally to a 42-30 lead. ProBuild answered by outscoring Lieshout 0-12 and took a 42-43 lead at the end of the quarter. In the fourth period the game stayed close, until Amy Houchens scored 49-52, Zuzana Sakova nailed down a running jumper and Houchens went to the free throw line three times to score four more unanswered points.
Amy Houchens and Lani Lawrence scored 18 points apiece and Zuzana Sakova added 11 points, as the ProBuild Lions had a 63-58 victory over the Katwijk Grasshoppers. Houchens had an impressive fourth quarter in her home debut, nailing a big threepointer to take the Lions to a 54-51 lead, and scoring eight points in the final period. Lani Lawrence controlled the boards on both ends of the court, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Zuzana Sakova also was in foul trouble early in the game, and sat out the third quarter, to receive her fifth foul in the third minute of the fourth period. It was a close game, in which the Lions several times built a lead, but could not pull away. Jasmijn Overbeeke scored 31-31 in the buzzer before going into the break. The second half the lead kept switching, before Amy Houchens knocked down a threepointer and Leontine Doorn followed up with another trey to take the Lions to a 59-53 lead. Another score by Houchens and a free throw by Nadine Boesaart widened the gap to nine points. Two free throws and a threepointer by the Grasshopper's Talia Versteeg closed the margin to four points again, but then Amy Houchens was fouled and made one free throw, which was enough to win the victory.
This is the second regular season meeting between the Lions and
Noordkop. In their first meeting on December 14 at home the Lions lost by
one, 68-67. It's an important game for Probuild in their race for a place
in the top four. Probuild's newly acquired guard Amy Houchens is required
to be on the court, in order to be allowed to play the rest of the season
because of the trading deadline. Therefore Natalie Hudec, still waiting
for her Slowakian passport, will be sidelined, as regulations prevent
ProBuild from having more than two non-european players on the floor.
Third seeded Noordkop, (17 played 11 wins), not in their best form, lost
their last away game in Groningen last week. Coach Meindert van Veen:
"What irritated me most was the lack of fighting spirit". Van Veen, who is
also the coach of the Dutch national team, is known for his ability to
have his teams come out agressive and ready to play.
Zuzana Sakova scored 20 points, Jolanda Jansen added 15 and Jasmijn Overbeeke chipped in with 14 as the ProBuild Lions routed the Bunschoten Shooters, 86-47. The woeful Shooters who were not able to bring more than six players on the floor due to injuries and vacations (!), stayed scoreless until the 9th minute of the first period, 10-2. Pointguard-veteran Alice Felter made her re-entrance and scored eight points. New addition Amy Houchens did not play yet due to jetlag. Her first appearance is scheduled for Thursday 27, as the Lions play Noordkop Den Helder. Natalie Hudec and Lani Lawrence both scored six points and had quiet games. Coach Vujanic took the opportunity to give his bench lots of playing time.
Natalie Hudec played through her shoulder injury and made two quick jumpers in the first minute of the game. ProBuild built a six-point lead, but then Binnenland took over and ended the Lion's four-game winning streak, 65-40. Lani Lawrence and Jolanda Jansen both scored 12 points. After Jolanda Jansen's lay-up in the first minute of the second quarter, 13-12, Binnenland reeled of 12 straight points and took a 25-12 lead. The Lions fell 13 points behind and never recovered. Jolanda Jansen scored 26-17 to pull the Lions within 10 points, but Binnenland answered quickly with two scores before the end of the period, 30-17. Inge Huitzing buried a trey for Binnenland to start the third period, and Binnenland cruised to a comfortable 49-31 lead at the end of the third quarter. Lani Lawrence, Natalie Hudec and Zuzana Sakova sat out the last minutes of the game, to watch the final stage of ProBuild's most lopsided loss of the season.
Jolanda Jansen scored a season-high 22 points and Lani Lawrence added 19 as the ProBuild Lions routed Leiderdorp on their own home court. With the Lions trailing 42-36 after three quarters, Jolanda Jansen scored 15 points in the fourth period to lead a 28-7 run. Coach Tony Vujanic, still unbeaten, was a happy man. "There was a lot of bad basketball in the first three quarters", he said. "But at the end of the game, we go home the right way. I give my team all the credit. They overcame a bad shooting-night by going to a tougher mind-set defensively in the last quarter. Offensively things automatically fell into place too."
Leiderdorp took a 14-12 lead in the first quarter and widened the gap to 29-22 at halftime. At the end of the third quarter they took a 42-33 lead, but Nadine Boesaart hit a jumper from behind the arc, 42-36. A driving lay-up and a threepointer by Jolanda Jansen and a score by Lani Lawrence tied the game, 44-44.
Renske van der Voort converted a free throw for Leiderdorp with two minutes to go, 49-53, before the Lions staged a 0-11 run to roll to a 49-64 victory. With four consecutive victories in the last few weeks ProBuild moved into fifth place now. Next week the Lions face top-seeded Binnenland.
Leiderdorp
The Lions topped Lely 68-61 as Lani Lawrence and Zuzana Sakova combined for 35 points and Natalie Hudec chipped in with 10 points. Coach Tony Vujanic, who is 3-3 now, was satisfied with the effort of his team. "I thought we executed well", he said. "Lely is a tough team to beat. I am not very experienced with women basketball and I know little of this league. So I did not know what to expect from Lely. I asked the girls earlier this week if we were to expect a press defence and they said no. So their press in the third period came as a surprise and we had to improvise. Although Lely closed the gap to one point, we were able to come back and win the game. It was a big win."
Vujanic' starting five consisted of Natalie Hudec, Jolanda Jansen, Zuzana Sakova, Nadine Boesaart and Lani Lawrence. Zuzana Sakova burried three threepointers in the first quarter to carry the Lions to a 21-11 lead. In the second quarter Lani Lawrence took over, scoring six points en pulling down lots of defensive rebounds. By halftime ProBuild led with 15 points (32-17). In the third period coach Robert Nagel surprised the Lions with a press defence, which proved to be quite successful, as Lely was able to close the gap to one point in the 8th minute (40-39). Jasmijn Overbeeke however scored four consecutive points and Lani Lawrence added two to bring back their team to a 46-39 lead at the end of the third quarter. In the first minute of the fourth period a trey from the corner by Natalie Hudec brought the Lions to a 51-42 lead. That proved to be a big shot. The Lions controlled the game again from this moment on, giving Lely no chance to recover. Both teams spend lots of time on the foul line in the remaining minutes of the quarter.